- Mother (Danzig song)
-
"Mother" Single by Danzig from the album Danzig Released August, 1988 Recorded 1987 at Atlantic Recording Studios and Chung King Metal in New York City Genre Heavy metal Length 3:24 Label Def American Writer(s) Glenn Danzig Producer Rick Rubin "Mother" is a song by Danzig that first appeared on their 1988 debut album, Danzig.
Thematically, the song is a rhetorical challenge to parents, primarily inspired by Tipper Gore[1] who, along with the Parents Music Resource Center, introduced the Parental Advisory warning placed on albums that contain explicit content.
The original 1988 music video was rejected by MTV for its ending sequence, which contains imagery of a chicken being sacrificed and an inverted cross being drawn in its blood (although Glenn Danzig noted that the chicken was not actually killed or harmed).[2]
In 1993–1994, almost six years after its original release, the song became a hit on radio and earned Buzz Bin rotation on MTV[3] after a music video incorporating live footage was created to promote the band's new EP, Thrall: Demonsweatlive. The concert footage was taken from the band's Halloween 1992 performance at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in California, with additional footage shot in the UK.[4] This version of the song was retitled "Mother '93" and included an overdubbed "live" concert audience atop the original track, extra reverb, and a minor modification to the guitar solo.[5]
Following the success of "Mother", Glenn Danzig recalled writing the song: “I remember calling Rick Rubin in the middle of the night and telling him that I wrote an incredible song - probably the best song I'd ever written. It was the song I always wanted to write. The first time we played it, people went crazy. But I never wrote that song to make it a hit - I never wrote that way, and I still don't. I write songs so that they say something and do something, and if people like them, great - and if they don't, they don't.”[6]
"Mother" remains Danzig's highest charting single. It peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and 43 on the Hot 100.[7][8] In the UK, the song peaked at number 62 on the singles chart.[9]
Appearances
"Mother" is featured in the video games Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and True Crime: New York City, and appears during the end credits of F.E.A.R. 3. A cover version to which a final solo was added appears in the 2006 music video game Guitar Hero 2, whereas the master track appears in 2009s Guitar Hero Smash Hits.
It is the entrance song for the MMA fighter Gabriel Gonzaga.
Both the original "Mother" music video and the live footage version appeared on Beavis and Butt-head, in the episodes "Couch Fishing" and "Crisis Line".
Covers
The song has been covered by bands Edge of Sanity, Anberlin, and, as part of The Onion A.V. Club's 2011 Undercover Series, Wye Oak.[10]
References
- ^ Carnie, Dave (2000). "Danzig interview". Big Brother. http://www.jackassworld.com/blog/2009/10/30/big-brother-archive-glenn-danzig-part-4/#more-17475. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
- ^ Ma, Maria (December 10, 1988). "DANZIG: Def New Music". Concrete Foundations. http://misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=concrete.88. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
- ^ "On the Same Track". Entertainment Weekly. February 18, 1994. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,301185,00.html. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
- ^ Gilbert, Jeff (August 1994). "The Passion of Christ". Guitar World. http://www.misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=gworld.94. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ Kitts, Jeff (July 1994). "Prime Cuts: John Christ". Guitar School. http://www.misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=gschool.94. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
- ^ Kitts, Jeff (September 1994). "The Dark Knight Returns". Flux Magazine. http://www.misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=flux.94. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ Billboard
- ^ Billboard
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 140. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Wye Oak covers Danzig". The Onion A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/wye-oak-covers-danzig,53066/. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
Categories:- American rock songs
- 1988 singles
- Songs produced by Rick Rubin
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
